Tabula Geographica Divisionis Gentium et Populorum

This engraved map by Jesuit polymath Athanasius Kircher divides the known world among the three sons of Noah — Shem, Ham, and Japheth — assigning Asia, Africa, and Europe respectively to their biblical bloodlines. The intaglio etching is dense with Latin nomenclature, decorative cartouches, sailing vessels, and allegorical figures flanking the title. It belongs to the encyclopedic illustrated broadsheet tradition. Kircher's schema assigning continents to biblical lineages reflects early-modern theology. The picture-sheet tradition of reading mapped territory feeds directly into the Bilderbogen tradition and, downstream, the comic page.